Irrelevant Kisses
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: Jade West's five irrelevant kisses, and then the one kiss that really mattered. / Eventual Jade/Beck.


Irrelevant Kisses

_Jade West's five irrelevant kisses, and then one that changed her life forever._

Her first kiss was with the person you'd never expect it to be with.

She was thirteen, with frizzy brown hair and wide blue eyes, and she wasn't exactly the most attractive girl in the neighborhood. All around her, pretty girls were getting their first kisses, and of course, no one wanted to kiss her. After a few weeks, she was starting to get desperate. Would anyone ever want to kiss Jade West?

That was when she met Robbie Shapiro.

She hated him at first, probably because he was a complete and utter dork. His crush on her was painfully obvious. He would open doors for her, smile at her when he thought she wasn't looking, 'accidentally' brush her hand with his sweaty one. At first, it was irritating, but then Jade decided that she could work it to her advantage. She could get her first kiss from him and then go around and tell everyone that she'd had her first kiss, but just not say who it was with. She wouldn't be lying, after all.

So she grabbed Robbie Shapiro's pale arm and dragged him around to the back of the school. "Kiss me," she whispered, staring at him.

Robbie's eyes widened. At last, he stammered out, "_W-what_?"

"I _said _kiss me," she demanded, scowling at him. "Are you deaf?"

"Why?" Robbie asked at last, staring at her like she'd gone insane.

"Well, I want to be able to say I've had my first kiss, and all the guys are either gross, annoying, or taken, so let's just say you're the best choice I've got," she said at last, biting the corner of her lip. "Now stop staring at me like an idiot and kiss me already."

Robbie didn't hesitate. He swooped in quickly, pressing his lips to hers, and it wasn't exactly pleasant, nor was it 'breathtaking', but it wasn't bad, either. She supposed that with more practice, it might have actually been enjoyable. However, she did not want to practice more with Robbie Shapiro.

He broke away at last, looking like he'd just been electrocuted. Glancing down, he muttered, "Well, that was... nice."

"It was okay," she said with a shrug. "Guess that's all the action you're going to be getting for the next few years, Shapiro. Treasure this moment for the rest of your life."

She started to walk off, but then remembered something and spun around. "Oh, and never speak of this again. _Ever_."

"Gotcha," Robbie told her with a smile.

She almost blushed as she walked off. (Oh, and she never spoke of it again. To anyone. Not even Beck.)

(It was their little secret.)

/

During her first break-up with Beck, way back in the early days of their relationship, Jade discovered that she was lonely. Really, truly lonely, in a way she hadn't been since before they'd begun to date. And so she went out in search of her next victim.

His name was James. He was tall, with a mop of brown curls and caramel eyes, not muddy brown like Beck's, and he had a smile that could light up a whole room. So she decided that he was exactly the type of boy that could help her to get over Beck.

She walked right up to him one day and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. James, being a _boy_ and a boy known for being particularly flirtatious at that, kissed her back.

He was a good kisser; that much she could freely admit. For some reason, though, it wasn't enough. She pressed herself closer, but still, it felt like she was missing something. His brown, curly hair wasn't straight enough; his caramel eyes weren't the muddy brown that she sorely missed. And that was when she realized that she was screwed.

Jade West was in love with Beck Oliver.

And so she kissed James again, trying to pretend that he was tall and tan and muscular, with muddy pools for eyes and fluffy brown hair.

(It didn't work. She didn't forget. Beck and Jade got back together two days later, and she never told him about James or how she realized she was in love with Beck.)

James saw her in the hallway a week later and gave her a friendly smile. She just raised an eyebrow at him and kept on walking, hoping that he hadn't thought she was actually into him.

/

Her third irrelevant kiss happened while she was still dating Beck Oliver, which was definitely very wrong of her, but she was just curious. Cat and Tori were so fixated over this Danny guy; it was only fair that she got to see what the big fuss was about, right?

So a couple of days after all the drama about Cat, Danny, and Tori had died down, she approached Danny. Danny just raised an eyebrow. "If you're here to yell at me for hurting Cat, there's no need. I've heard it all a thousand times already."

"As if," Jade said sharply. "I mean, you shouldn't have hurt Cat; she's practically a child. But before I threaten you with scissors, I just want to see what all the fuss is about."

"What do you – " Danny began, but he was cut off by Jade kissing him. It was a short kiss, mostly because kissing anyone but Beck was entirely awkward for Jade (not to mention it felt _wrong_), but also because it would hurt Cat even more if she saw. And Danny wasn't exactly a good kisser.

She jerked back, biting the corner of her lip and then smiling halfway in satisfaction. "I don't see what the fuss is about, to be honest. You need to work on your technique." Then she brought her fist back and punched him in the face, pure and utter exhilaration flowing through her veins as she pulled back. "And _that_ was for hurting Cat, pretty boy."

Danny just stared at her for a moment, eyes wide, and then he stammered something that was pretty much incoherent – "you know, kissing me doesn't – you kissed me – Cat wouldn't..." – but she just walked away, leaving him behind. She felt kinda guilty, because what she'd done was wrong on an insane amount of levels, but Jade West was nothing if not curious and she just _had to know_.

Besides, if Beck was allowed to kiss Vega, then she was most certainly allowed to kiss Danny, who she honestly had no interest in whatsoever.

(Two months later, when the subject of Danny came up, Jade sipped her coffee nonchalantly and said 'You know, Danny wasn't that great of a kisser." Beck nearly spit out his coffee, but he didn't comment. It kind of disappointed her.)

/

Her next kiss (not including Beck Oliver, obviously) came after that fateful day when Beck didn't open the door. She was sitting alone at a table, stabbing at her salad absently, when Ryder Daniels came over and plunked down right beside her. She raised an eyebrow, but he didn't move.

"Hey, it's Jade, right?" he said, smirking over at her. "I hear you're single now."

"I hear you're a jerk, so please leave," she replied, giving him a tight-lipped smile. Then, glancing over at the table she used to sit at, she realized that Beck was tense, his dark eyes narrow as he glared over at Ryder and Jade. Slowly, her mouth curved up into a smile. "Actually, on second thought..."

His eyes followed her gaze over to Beck, then he stared at her. "You can do much better than Oliver."

"I know," was her simple response. It was true; if she had wanted to, she could do better than him. The thing was that she was in love with him, and that was kind of a tough thing to get over.

He sighed. "You know, you're kind of gorgeous."

"Thanks," she replied, glancing down on her lap. She could count on one hand the amount of times Beck had said that to her during the three years they dated, which was kind of sad, even though she didn't really need to be told she was gorgeous. She wasn't the needy type of girl, right? "You don't have to sit here. I don't need pity."

"I like sitting with hot girls," Ryder told her, winking at her. "And trust me, you're above average in that respect. I mean, you might as well be a fan because you blow me away."

She rolled her eyes. "If you're just going to sit here and use stupid pickup lines on me, then you might as well just walk away now."

"Will do," Ryder said, his face splitting into a smile. "But before I go..." He leaned over and kissed her right on the lips. He was a good kisser, she had to admit, but of course the best part wasn't his kiss; it was the look on Beck Oliver's face when he finally pulled away. His face was absolutely priceless. Her mouth curved up into a smile as he sauntered away.

That, of course, warranted a response from Beck. He stomped over to her, a cross look on his face. "What do you think you're doing with Ryder Daniels, Jade? He's a player. You're only going to get hurt. He's not good enough for you."

She gave him her best cold, calculated look, but secretly, she was rejoicing inside – this was exactly what she had hoped for, but never in a million years had she thought that he would actually care. With a frown, she asked the question that was plaguing her mind. "Why do _you_ care?"

His eyes immediately fell, probably out of embarrassment, but she could see they were raging with emotion. She stared at him for a minute, eyes sharp enough to pierce right through him, and at last he said, "I don't know." His voice wavered, like he actually _cared, _and it kind of scared her. Then he shook his head. "Just be careful, please."

All she could do was nod as he walked away.

/

Her last kiss that was from someone other than Beck was from someone else that was sort of unexpected, all things considering. He'd walked up to her after class, a frown plastered upon his face, and then said, "Hey, Jade."

"Harris," she'd replied in a calculated tone, wondering what he was doing.

"Look, I just..." The boy ran a hand through his hair, giving her an awkward smile. "You haven't really looked happy lately."

"I never look happy." Her reply was sharp, but it rang true – she didn't like to express her emotions, aside from anger. That was one thing that she and Beck had in common. (Not that she'd ever admit it.) "What's your point?"

He smiled again, then asked her quietly, "Can I sing you a song?"

"Um, sure," she said, wondering what he was getting at. After all, most (not all, but most) of his cheesy pop music was more likely to get her down than to cheer her up, but she decided to give him a chance anyway. After all, out of their little group, she hated him the least. Aside from Cat, that was. (And occasionally Beck, when he wasn't being a jerk.)

"Cool," he told her, and then he walked her over to his locker and pulled out a mini keyboard. Immediately, he burst into song, but it wasn't the one she'd been expecting – no, it was that one he'd played all those months ago after they'd written a song together, but as he sang it he kinda looked like he was singing it just for her, which was odd. Could he have – ?

He finished at last and gave her a grin. "I wrote this song for you, y'know. A long time ago."

Her mind felt like it was going to explode – _she'd been dating Beck at the time, hadn't she? – _but her train of thought all but crashed as he leaned forward and pressed a tentative kiss to her lips. Then he jerked back, as if he'd been shocked, and told her, "I'm s- sorry. I just had to know. I just... I want you to be happy."

She didn't call after him as he ran off. After all, she knew as well as he did that the kiss they'd just shared held absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

(She never told Beck about Andre's thing for her. That was another thing that he definitely didn't need to know.)

/

The thing about those kisses was that they had meant absolutely nothing. If she was being honest, there was only one kiss that had meant anything to Jade West, and it wasn't a kiss with Robbie, Andre, Ryder, Danny, or James. It was a kiss with Beck Oliver, and it meant everything, absolutely everything.

The black dress cascaded through her knees. She gave a small twirl in the mirror, feeling like a princess, which was an odd sensation. She'd never really pegged herself as the type to actually care about this stuff. Beck, of course, had changed all of that. Beck changed everything.

"You look gorgeous," Cat whispered, staring at her. "Beck's not gonna be able to take his eyes off of you."

"That's what I'm going for," she said with a grin, giving a small twirl in the mirror.

Cat just grinned at her and stepped back out. "You're out in a few minutes, Jade. You'd better hurry."

Quickly, she gave her (minimal) make-up one last touchup, then stepped out, slipping her arm into her father's – it was amazing how things could change over the course of a few years, wasn't it? Her father gave her a warm smile. For once, it was actually one that met his eyes.

They stepped down the aisle in time with the music, and Jade watched as Beck's eyes fell on her. His eyes widened at once. The smile that fell over his face was instant – a reflex reaction, she thought – and brilliant. As she stepped up to stand in front of him, he whispered, "Beautiful."

She glanced down, blushing slightly, because it wasn't something she had heard all that often. She loved to hear it, though, especially from him.

The rest of the ceremony seemed to drag on. The pastor recited all the traditional chiz (their parents had insisted on a traditional wedding), and then Beck looked into her eyes and said, "I do," like he hadn't been more certain of anything in her life. Of course, when her time came, she said the same. Had there ever been any doubt?

"You may kiss the bride," the pastor said at last, a small, amused smile on his face, and immediately Beck sprung forward and captured her lips with his. It was a small, sweet kiss, not passionate, not long, but it meant the world all the same. As Beck pulled away, whispering 'I love you' under his breath, she realized that there was only one kiss in the world that mattered, and it was this one.

She ducked her head again, then whispered "I love you" under her breath. Beck just laughed and kissed her again, then she kicked him lightly in the shin and told him not to laugh at her.

Some things never really changed.

/

**A/N: if only I could explain this fic sigh**

**hope you enjoyed it despite the fact it was super sappy at the end**

**I need to stop**

**please review and don't fave without reviewing :)**


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